hiatus

Sorry about the brief hiatus. At least i got some pictures posted. From Goa and from Ukhimath.
The trip up into the Himalaya was really incredible. You would think mountains are mountains. I mean, I have one of the greatest mountain ranges, the Rockies, in my own backyard. That’s why i can’t understand why the Himalayas are so different. They are still mountains but they LOOK different, they FEEL different...
We stayed in a little government run tourist guest house that had some little cabins on a ridge looking out over a valley and onto some snowy peaks. It was a relaxing and peaceful place.
It was a 6 hour harrowing car ride to get there, but it sure was better than the bus and share jeep i took the first time i came on this road. Sheer crumbling drop offs on one side and crumbling cliffs straight up the other side, sometime with overhanging rock, often the road is reduced to barely one “lane” of traffic due to poor road conditions and landslides. The strange thing is that you get used to it. At first it is pure terror but after awhile of being tired of being terrified you get lulled into an uncanny sense of trust in your driver and putting your life in god’s hands.
We visited an important temple there that houses the temple of the important Hindu site at Kedarnath in the winter, because Kedarnath is snow bound and cannot be reached in the winter months. So they move the statue to Ukhimath to winter it there so that pilgrims can still visit all year round.
Then we hiked up about an hour and a half from the village to a sweet water lake. It was a gorgeous hike on an old cobblestone path up into the snow. Along the way we met an old man who was also hiking up. Turns out he is a relative of our taxi driver who called him up to tell him we were making the hike. The man owns a canteen or a dabba up at the top and was coming up to cook for us. We didn’t ask for this of course, but it is quite a remote location and all we had with us was chips and nuts and water, so it was nice to learn that we would have a full hot meal at the top. That’s India for ya. One man hikes 1.5hours up a mountain to feed 4 people. That is his work for the day. And all this happens without us pre-arranging anything. And of course who would refuse a home cooked meal of traditional Garhwali mountain food at the top of a long hike into the hills? Perfect.
When we finally reached the top we were rewarded with a most god-like view. Snow, yes, a sweet water lake, yes, and then a full panorama of snow-capped peaks in the background. Not a soul was there, except for our guy and us. We had the place to ourselves to explore and roam. So of course we had chai, and then began to look around. Walked around the perimeter of the lake, built a couple snow men, had a few snowball fights, did some sliding... you know... typical Canadian stuff.
Lunch was unbelievable. Rice, mountain raised local spinach and the local delicacy called Chosi Bhat, which is sort of like a form of daal bhat (Indian lentil soup) but made with some other mountain grown thing(s) and very very delicious. All cooked over a real wood burning clay stove. So, so tasty, probably made even more so by the high elevation and stunning remote setting. We spent the whole day there before finally walking back down.
Ya, so it was fun.
We are back now at home. The rest of the family has gone on a trip now, and we are basically home alone for 5 days. Nakul’s cousin is here but he works all day, and the kids are at school until 2 or so. So we are in charge. Well, I am in charge, because Nakul is running the family shop while his brother is out of town.
Hope everyone at home is healthy and happy. Miss you all. All my love.